The Mission That Changed Everything
by ChinChan128000
Summary: Assigned to a VIP rescue mission, Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki are joined by their old long time friend Sasuke Uchiha. Whom has only been back home for almost 1 year. All not reunited since they were kids, Sakura must decide to either let go of her worries and bond once more with Uchiha or let their friendship falter.
1. Anticipation

**Hello everyone, it's been a long time coming but I'm here now! lol (quoting CL from 2ne1) Who else likes Korean pop groups?**

 **Introducing my new story! I hope you'll enjoy it.**

 **I'll try my best to make this one really interesting, and also make it look good as far as the spelling and wording. Lol i know i miss a few sometimes**

 **but I'm only human. ( or am I? jk)**

 **So the characters in this story will mostly be described and acting as themselves, a bit of OOC will be thrown in the mix too. Rating this M just to be**

 **safe cause who knows what'll happen ;D I don't really write hard core lemon stuff cause it's kinda hard for me to write that kinda stuff without**

 **feeling embarrassed xD Those who can though are skilled. Probably more mild lime (if that's what you call it) stuff in my story though so there will**

 **be steamy scenes :) Believe it!**

Just to clarify, so as to not confuse anyone...

Of course everyone knows what " " those are

but

When a character is thinking, I will use ' ' to separate their thoughts from actual spoken dialogue.

I know a lot of different people use different things to separate certain words, so just to say **.**

 **I hope you enjoy and Thanks for clicking on my story :D**

(Update , I forgot to type this before I published. My apologies :P)

 _Also, before you start reading away, here's just a little description for you. :)... the younger characters ages range from 17-18._

 _Sakura- 17 only difference is Sakura's hair has grown longer (mid back length) She is_

 _Sasuke-17 For Sasuke...( in this story, he wears the outfit he used with the gray shirt with the raised collar, and large rope to hold his pants (spiked hair w/bangs in the front.)_

 _Naruto- 17 - His usual Shippuden outfit :D yeeeuhh._

 _You can probably figure out the rest of the characters ages if they pop up. lol_

 _ **disclaimer. P.S. I do NOT own Naruto in any way shape or form, Just the plot to this fan story. disclaimer.**_

* * *

Tsunade the current Hokage of the village of Kohana faced the large wall-sized window as she stared out into the blue skies that covered her beloved village. Her

golden eyes hardened as her mind set on she heard three knocks on her office door, followed by scattered footsteps. She voiced for them to come in without turning to see whom it was, because she already knew. "Sakura, come in."

The pink haired kunoichi slightly bowed as she walked up to her teacher's desk. "You called?" The blond woman swirled her office chair around to face her student and looked up at her with stern eyes. "I have a mission for you and your team."

Sakura nodded and continued to listen."So, Sai is already back from his escort mission, Lady Tsunade?" Her teacher shook her head. "No not at all, he's still making his way to the mist village. When I said team, I meant team 7." When she spoke those words, they continued to ring in Sakura's ears. 'Did she just say what I thought she said?'

 _'Tch, of course we heard her right, she's talking about the old team with Naruto and Sasuke!_ ' 'Stay out of it, I don't think I can work with _him_...'

' _Cha, of course we can.'_

"Uhm, Team...7?" Tsunade slightly raised a brow as she looked at her questionably. "Why yes, you don't remember?" Sakura shook her head. "No..no it's just, I haven't worked together with those two in such a long time." The Hokage slightly smirked as she crossed her arms in the front of her chest. "Well, it's about time to. Since you _are_ the most skilled medic Shinobi in this village I chose you for this mission, in case anything were to happen on the way there and back. As for Naruto, he has been itching to go on another run."

Sakura nodded as her teacher rambled on about Naruto and his charismatic personality. Looking back up at a spacing Sakura, she stopped

her words and raised her stern voice. "Sakura!" This made the pinkette jump. "Yes teacher?" "Were you listening or is something else on your mind? You looked spaced

out." Sakura was caught, so she explained. "Lady Tsunade...couldn't Kakashi Sensei come along with us instead, or how about Shikamaru or even Kiba?" Tsunade

slammed her fist against her polished wooden desk. "Most definetly not! You know when I pick someone, I pick them for a good reason.

Uchiha is very skilled in his own way which makes him a perfect addition to this mission. Listen, I know how you feel about a certain person that will be joining you, but you must push those uneasy feelings aside for this mission and work together efficiently.

Team 7 will be reunited on my order. Understood?" Sakura quickly shut her mouth and bowed her head as she knew if she protested any more, she would face great consequences . Sure all three have been on multiple missions since Sasuke's return, (which was nearly one year ago) , but never all three on the same team. "I understand..."

As she watched her student bow apologetically for complaining, Tsunade continued on. "Team 7 will go on an important rescue mission, the person in our interest will be the The land of fire's Prince, Junichi Fujimoto. He's been kidnapped by the infamous group of bandits known as The Yami (which mean Darkness)The golden haired leader handed Sakura a picture of the group of criminals which consisted of 8 rough looking men. Her emerald orbs scanned the picture thoroughly, before she placed it back on the desk. When she brought her eyes up to look at Tsunade once more, she saw an angry expression upon her face. "What's wrong Lady Tsunade?" The older woman arose from her comfy seat and slammed both her hands down upon her desk once more as she glared at the door. "Tch, Those 2 idiots are late! I wanted them to be here when I explained the mission details." Sakura looked down at her own feet as she listened to her teacher complain about Naruto and Sasuke.

 _'This is going to be so awkward...facing Sa...I can't even say his name for goodness sake! How am I going to work with him?'_ Inner Sakura began to intervene.

 _'Cha, jeez, enough with avoiding him already, you know you want talk with him and learn about him all over again. And I'm sure he wants to talk to us too. I mean come on, Sasuke's earned the trust of all the villagers and mostly all the shinobi too, so why can't you trust him too?'_ '

 _'Ugh, not you again...I do trust Sasuke, look I am not going to spend my time on this mission drooling over him, sure he's back and he's not a threat to us anymore but I don't think I'll be able to connect with him the way I used to.'_

 _'HA! connect? I don't think we ever really connected with him cause he always thought we were annoying and useless. Plus, the most memorable encounter we had with him was when he tried to kill us when we intervened with his fight with Kakashi Sensai, don't you remember? cause I most definitely do._ '

 _'Whatever, he was a very close friend. I loved him for who he was, even though I did once doubt he would ever come back to us... but he did and that's all that matters now.'_

Snapping back to reality, Sakura focused her attention back to Tsunade, whom was still complaining. Suddenly, there were four knocks on the door. The disgruntled blond

voiced them to come in as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Hmp...you two are late!" Walking in came a grinning, loud blond man followed by a handsome raven haired man.

Sakura dared not look back at the two as they entered, her eyes were glued to Tsunade. "Sorry Grandma, we got caught up with Kakashi Sensei. Heh... I won a bet and got some coupons for free ramen for a whole freaking week!"

The Hokage sat back down as she brushed off his excuse, then began explaining the mission to the two men. Naruto held a thumbs up towards her and smiled after she was finished with the important details. "You three be ready by 7 AM tomorrow morning, be sure to prepare your things." All three nodded in agreement. "Alright! I'm ready when you guys are then." The fox-like man grinned at his old team mates as he put his arms around the both of their shoulders. "This will be great, just like old times!" With that last excited remark, he left the Hokage's office and proudly walked down the hall.

Sakura grew tense as she and Sasuke were now standing side by side, facing Tsunade. Noticing how the two were still there, Tsunade looked up from her desk at the two and rambled. "Are there any questions you two have?" Sakura shook her head and bowed. "No.." Before Sasuke could speak, Sakura turned and left her office in a hurry.

Sasuke bowed with respect towards the Hokage and turned his back quietly and left. He walked all the way to the end of the hall and peered around the corner just a bit to see if the pinkette was anywhere to be found, but saw nothing. He stood there for a minute, feeling her presence before he left to exit the building. Sakura let her breathe leave her body as she sighed relief. "That was too close..."

 **Outside the capital building...**

Naruto caught up with Sasuke and invited him to join him at his favorite Ramen shop. "Since you've been gone, their Ramen recipes have improved! You've gotta try these with me...why are your Sharingan activated?" The handsome raven haired man slightly smirked as his eyes returned to their normal mesmerizing onyx color. "No reason." Of course he had a reason, he wouldn't use it just to look any cooler than he already was, if that was even possible. This was the only way he could even come close to Sakura without actually being by her side.

Seeing her chakra and her actual being, through that wall at the Capital building earlier just reassured his theory that she didn't want to talk with him or even run into him. He wanted to at least say hello every once in a while if she really didn't want to interact with him. It actually bothered him deep inside, that she didn't want to talk to him, nevertheless look him in the eyes. He had already gave his apologies to her as soon as he came back nearly a year ago, and she had accepted his apology whole heatedly, so what was the reason she put a wall up between them? This was what he wanted to find out.

The devilishly handsome raven haired man took the menu in hand and ordered a bowl of spicy ramen with a glass sake. While they waited for their order, they chatted about casual things until Sasuke asked a random question. "So...how is Sakura?" Naruto blinked and answered. "Oh Sakura chan? She's doing well, she's currently a nurse at the hospital now, but you would know that already." Sasuke just looked at the chopsticks in his hand and replied. "No, actually." Naruto looked at his friend, puzzled. "Hm? Haven't you talked to her since you came back? I mean it's been nearly a year." Sasuke shook his head. "Hn. I haven't had the chance to." Not having the chance to, meaning Sakura avoided him most of the time when they passed by each other in the streets. "Ah, I see... well yeah, she works at the hospital as registered nurse. She usually works in the emergency department." Sasuke fiddled with his chopsticks. "Well Sasuke, at least we'll all be together again for the first time in forever! We can all bond again, Hahaha I can't wait." It felt like sun beams were radiated from Naruto's body, Sasuke almost needed sun glasses to shield his eyes from how bright Naruto beamed with happiness. As he watched Naruto laugh and chat more about Sakura, they received their bowls of ramen. He stared into his steaming lunch and spoke more to himself than to his excited friend. "Hn...me neither."

* * *

 **And that's a wrap!**

 **Chapter one is complete!**

 **Whatchu think? :P**

 **If you'd like, you could leave a review and tell me whatchu think. I'm sure Sasuke kun would appreciate it. ;P**

 **Thanks again for reading, and Chapter 2 is soon to come.**

 **lol Sorry I keep updating, I just keep finding ways to upgrade this story to make it better for you. :)**


	2. The dreaded Mission

**Hey all and welcome back to another round of 'The Mission That Changed Everything' ! :) Those of you who clicked this chapter... Hi! lol**

 **So I hope you enjoy it!**

 **I'm not sure if anyone read or check the update but I am going to say it again on this chapter too.**

 **(Update , I forgot to type this before I published. My apologies :P)**

 _ **Before you start reading away, here's just a little description for you. :)... the younger characters ages range from 17-18.**_

 _ **Sakura- 17 only difference is Sakura's hair has grown longer (mid back length)**_

 _ **Sasuke-17 For Sasuke...( in this story, he wears the outfit he used with the gray shirt with the raised collar, and large rope to hold his pants (spiked hair w/bangs in the front.)**_

 _ **Naruto- 17 - His usual Shippuden outfit :D yeeeuhh.**_

 *********This story takes place PRE-shinobi world war!**********

 ** _** So a lot of the characters are now jounin and higher ranked nin. **_**

 _ **You can probably figure out the rest of the characters ages and ranks**_ _ **if they pop up. lol**_

 _ **Enjoy, lovelies!**_

* * *

Facing the ceiling, she laid flat on her bed while letting her head hang over the edge, and with a huge intake of breath she sighed out all the stressful thoughts away. _'Why did Lady Tsunade have to pick me? Argh, why does the universe hate me so much? What the hell did I do to deserve this?'_ She popped a grape in her mouth and allowed herself to chew loudly, trying to distract herself from any thoughts of Sasuke. Then, inner Sakura intervened. _'Yo, pinky stop sulking and complaining! We've got to get up and show em' who's boss here! Are we gonna let that beautiful sexy man shy us away? NO! We're a proud member of the Haruno family and we most definitely will not, so let's get up and start packing for the mission tomorrow. We've got a long day ahead of us! Good thing too...so we'll have more time to stare at Sasuke kun.'_ "Ugh, stupid thoughts. Why can't I have the power to shut out stupid thoughts." _'You can never shut me out!'_

Getting more agitated by the second, she reached down a bit further and placed her hands on the cold wooden floor and raised her legs up to flip back, landing in a crouching position. She rose to her feet and walked to the kitchen and opened up her fridge, and took out fruit juice. "I guess I'll start pack for the worst however-many -days it takes- mission. Ugh." 'Why you mad bra?' "Dammit it's not like I'm mad or upset...it's just going to be exciting... but the scary kind." Her thoughts then drifted to earlier today when she was in Tsunade's office.

* * *

 **Flash back...**

Before Naruto and Sasuke had entered the Hokage's office, Tsunade began explaining location details.

"Sakura as you well know, the Forest Of Death is an extremely dangerous area. It's named what it is for a reason. The bandits hide out is located in that forest but we haven't picked up on the exact location quite yet. I sent a hawk-eye bird earlier this morning to keep track and progress, so prepare well and keep your ears open for the info."

Sakura nodded and listened as she watched Tsunade continue on with something extra to say. "One more thing...you are very close to earning your seal Sakura...seeing how hard you're working I'm not really sure when it will happen, it could happen anytime now. When it does, be prepared to feel a sensation you've never felt in your entire life. Power of your chakra that you have been storing for all these years will flow like a river through you, your'control and timing is what kills, just remember that."

 **End of flash back...**

* * *

Suddenly, she heard a knock at the door. She made her way to the front of her home and opened the door to face Shizune, Tsunade's apprentice. "I'm sorry to bother you this late into the evening Sakura, but Lady Tsunade wanted me to give an update on the location of where the bandits hideout is. I've already contacted Naruto and Sasuke."

After talking with Shinzune for a good 20 minutes about more mission details, she walked her to the door and saw her off as she closed the door. Then lazily walked back to her bedroom.

Sasuke looked up at the ceiling with a hand resting behind his head, he sighed peacefully while various thoughts ran through his mind. Suddenly his home phone rang,

he looked at it with a bored expression and then picked it up. "What Naruto?" Pulling the phone back from his ear, his handsome face scrunched a bit at the volume of his friend's voice on the other end of the line. "How the heck did you know it was me?!" Sasuke closed his eyes and spoke. "The funniest thing happened to me today."

He noticed how curiously quiet Naruto was as he continued. "I ate a fortune cookie today, and my fortune warned me that an idiot would be calling me sometime today.

I guess those useless pieces of paper aren't completely false all the time." Naruto began to complain. "Bastard. I admit though, that was a good one! I'll get you back, just wait." Sasuke slightly smirked. "I'll be waiting patiently, as always. So what do you want, you're ruining my sleep." Scoffing at Sasuke's arrogance, Naruto spoke. "Well..." After a few moments of silence, Sasuke broke it and spoke. "You're wasting my time, loser." The blond then replied quickly. "Ha ha ha, haven't heard you call me that in forever you bastard! I was just thinking about earlier today in grandma's office. The atmosphere in there almost knocked me out, from the air being so thick. It was almost hard to breathe in there. The tension wasn't from Tsunade either. And I would know that from the plenty of times I pissed her off." Sasuke sat up and leaned against the wall. ' _The_ _idiot knows...'_ "Hn."

Naruto quietly chuckled. "Yup, your little Hn confirms it. What the heck is up with you and Sakura? Aren't you getting along or what? We all used to

get along just fine." Controlling his small anger spike, he closed his onyx black eyes. " 'Used to' is the key word here. I'm hanging up, I've got to rest."

Not wanting to really think of the past, he calmed himself once again and listened for his friend to speak. "Get mad all you want but you know somethings up. I thought

you two talked and interacted more than this." Suddenly, Naruto heard a dial tone on the other end of the line. "Damn it. I wanted answers! Oh well, I'll get more out of the both of them them tomorrow."

 **The Next day, around 6:40 AM...**

The three were to meet by their beloved ramen shop. (Of course you could guess which one of them decided the meet up spot) As Sasuke approached the ramen shop, he stopped and stared at his annoying friend whom was peeking his head in through the curtains of the ramen shop. "What are you doing you idiot?"

Jumping back in a surprised manner, Naruto grinned at the him. "I asked the old man to make me some bento boxes for this morning. I have a feeling this mission will be very tiring so I followed Grandma Tsunade's advice and prepared well." The raven haired man just continued staring at him with a face of disbelief. "Don't hate cause you didn't think of it first."

Naruto's blue eyes shifted to something behind Sasuke, his face suddenly brightened up and he started waving. "Hey Sakura chan, good morning!"

Sasuke looked back to watch her walk towards them, and noticed her green vest. Even though he's seen her around town wearing her Jounin vest he hadn't had the chance to actually take her image in as a whole. His eyes scanned her whole body as he began noticing the small details. The way her long pink hair ( which was pulled up into a pony tail) slightly swayed back and forth as she walked, the way her bright green orbs sparkled as the slow rising sun peeked over the tips of the buildings and homes, and her small figure that added a little more perfection to her being; filling her clothes perfectly, and the way her beautifully shaped legs carried her as she gracefully walked. 'Sakura...she grew her hair.'

He then noticed she was closer than it seemed so his eyes drifted back to hers as she tightened her pony tail while walking up to them. She looked at Naurto. "Good morning Naruto." Then slightly drifted her eyes to meet with Sasuke's; he spoke first for a change, after a few seconds of silence.

"Good morning..Sakura." She nodded and spoke a bit softer than usual.

"Good Morning Sasuke." Breaking the awkward atmosphere, Ayama, the ramen shop's daughter came rushing to them with three bento boxes wrapped in a clothe.

"Good morning everyone, sorry I'm late!" Naruto walked to her and smiled. "No worries Ayame, thanks for delivering these for us!" He handed her the due amount and took the boxes from her. "No problem! Since you paid a bit extra, father said he couldn't refuse. He woke up at 4:30 this morning and started preparing these. "Naruto's eyes widened a bit. "Wow, your old man has dedication. Tell him I appreciate it and thanks!" Ayame slightly bowed from the waist and smiled before leaving for home.

Sakura looked at Naruto with a questionable look as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Naruto, is this why you had us meet here?" Sasuke slightly smirked as he looked at her, then at the excited fox man. "His love for ramen shall never cease." Naruto only grinned as he packed the bentos in his pack.

 **1 hour later...**

The trio had been traveling, jumping from tree to tree high above the ground, non-stop for a little over an hour. None even breaking a sweat due to their familiarity to

going on without stopping for long periods of time. They all had been chatting every now and then, Naruto doing most of the talking of course while Sasuke kept up with the conversation and added occasional 'Hn's' when he didn't feel the need to respond to his friend. Sakura on the other hand, had also been chatting quite a bit near the beginning of their travels but now talked less as of currently...well until Naruto brought it to attention. "Hey Sakura chan, why haven't I heard your opinon yet?"

Spaced out, just focusing on the trees ahead of her, she snapped back to reality and looked over at the blue and onyx curious eyes staring at her. "About what again?" Naruto slightly pouted at her reply. "Not you too, I'm used to Sasuke tuning me out, but not you Sakura chan. I was asking about what you think the prince's personality would be like. Snobby and bratty? A jackass? A gentleman? Sasuke's thoughts on the prince were specific to the bone. He said 'Hn' " Sakura quietly giggled at this.

"Um...by the way he looked in the picture Lady Tsunade gave us, his eyes give out a warm impression. He seems to be nice and gentleman-like." Naruto grinned. "Ha, I thought so too!" Sasuke kept quiet as the two continued with their thoughts about the prince _. 'Tch. A warm impression huh? We'll see about that. Wolves hide in sheep's skin.'_

Naruto's loud laugh broke Sasuke from his thoughts. "Quiet down idiot, we're in enemy territory. Haven't you learned anything?" The two began bickering back and forth while Sakura simply listened with a small smile spread across her lips. _'Naruto was right...it kinda feels good to experience being together again.'_

 **30 minutes later...**

The group stopped and took a minute to analyze the map that Sakura held in her hands. "So the cave of bandits is here." Her pointed finger found it's place on a

landmark to show the two men what she was talking about." Saskue leaned in a bit closer and looked. "So we'll get there in 20 minutes." She nodded and agreed with

the beautiful man. "Precisely." Naruto looked at the map, then at them. "How do you guys figure the times of arrival out so quickly? Geez, what are you two? Walking GPS's? Even I can't think that fast."

Sakura and Sasuke both looked at him with amused expressions as if they held a inside joke between just the two of them. "Why are you guys looking at me like that? Are you making fun of me right now? Oh, come on you nerds!" Sakura quietly giggled as Sasuke called him a loser. Before anyone could say anything else, they heard a small crack of a twig noise to the left of them. Sakura, standing between her friends whispered into their ears. "Sasuke ...28 degrees northeast, in 2 minutes. Naruto...50 degrees southwest in 5 minutes."

Sasuke understood her completely and faced the way of the enemy as did Naruto. She turned her back towards her friends as they did the same and faced their gathering enemies.

"Let's dance, you cowards." Naruto exclaimed as 4 large cut up rough looking men emerged from behind the bushes and tree trunks.

* * *

 **Yay, chapter 2 is done. :)**

 **Important fight scene is about to emerge in 3...2...error...error...**

 **Damn, I guess you have to wait til chapter 3 to see the fight!**

 **So join me in chapter 3 :P**

 **I added updates above the story just in case you missed them, they are important! Describing the characters as of now in this story.**

 **I wanted to say once more,**

 **Thank you for clicking on my story and giving it a chance to read. Your time is precious and I thank you for taking the time to read my story.**


	3. The Madness Begins

**Hey yo hi everyone.**

 **Here's chapter 3.**

 **Do you like the story so far? Let me know in the reviews section. :P**

 **:)**

* * *

As four rough looking bandits emerged from behind the bushes, they cracked their knuckles and drew their weapons out in preparation for the battle that lies ahead. "So these are the Kohana scum that are here to take this pathetic fire prince away huh?" One of them croaked. "Hm, it's a wonder how three skinny little kids could be considered some of Kohana's best, well then again Kohana is a weak piece of shit village. Their strongest is to be considered one of our weakest." Naruto pointed at the two men who were talking trash. "Shut up you ugly bastards, don't trash talk our village!" Sakura talked lowly to her frustrated friend before he could argue any further. "Naruto, you're giving them what they want. Stop it." Without turning his head, he looked at her from the corner of his eye and slightly nodded. Sasuke then began to speak up. "Where's the prince?" One of the men chuckled and stepped forward. "Hell, as if we'd tell you punks. But just since you three are pretty, I'll let you know, that not a hair on that pathetic prince's head has been harmed.

Before the bandits could make any first moves, team 7 made their move. All three went in different directions and started fighting off the men. Being the over acheiver that he was, Naruto fought against two of the criminals as Sasuke and Sakura took on one each.

Naruto created more than enough shadow clones and had them attack the men with remarkable hits and jutsu's. Even though they were mere bandits whom mostly robbed the elderly and people that were poorer, they were skilled at the hand of the sword. The two men skillfully sliced through the air as they tried to cut the fox-like man, their attempts were close each time they lunges their swords at him. After a good 10 minutes of back and forth attacks and combos, the feisty blond man nodded at his clones signaling them that it was time for their finishing blow. Immediately, they grabbed onto the arms of their two opponents as Naruto gathered up chakra in both of his hands. After a few seconds of inflaming his hands with the power of the rasengan, his eyes filled with anticipation to put these guys down. He ran at top speeds towards the men and pulled his hands that carried the orbs of power forward and launched them into the stomachs of both men. The impact of this made them fly back and smash against the trunks of the larges trees that surrounded them. As he turned towards the direction Sasuke and Sakura were, he began to run towards them to aide them until he was stopped by a flying sword, which engraving itself in the ground that lied before him just inches away from his toes. He snarled and looked back at which the sword had flown out from and saw a large man emerge from the bushes. "Damn another one huh?" He turned to face the man and began his fight with him.

Sasuke had practically fried his opponent with his chidori sword move. The man that stood before him fell onto one knee as he held his side that had been cut severely. "Argh...damn you." Sasuke walked up casually and pointed his sword at the man, whom was bleeding furiously as the seconds went by. He then fell over and gasped for air. Sasuke just stared at him without remorse as he watched the man huff in pain, however when he heard a familiar feminine growl he turned his head to see Sakura easily smashing a guy's face in with her powerful fists. After she finished the man off, she turned her attention towards the direction of where Sasuke was standing. Not being able to tell what she was looking at he figured she was looking at him.

In actuality, she was focusing her attention on sensing the chakra's of multiple bodies that were on their way towards them. He finally spoke. "What are you looking at?" She broke her gaze from the darkness of the forest and looked into his eyes. "I sense chakra coming from that way, their heading in on us. But there's something strange though..." Sasuke looked down at her with a hint of curiosity in his eyes. "What's wrong?" She looked back at the direction at which the men were coming from. "There seems to be more t men out there than we had anticipated... Lady Tsunade said this group only consisted of 8 members, right? Here so far, we took out 5 men, but there seems to be at least 15 guys." The beautiful onyx eyed man nodded as he remembered the hokage mentioning that. "True. You can tell from this far away?" She nodded. "I picked up on some more sensory skills, since they would be useful." He slightly nodded his head as he broke his gaze from her. "Hn."

 _Inner Sakura jumped in (at the wrong times, as per usual)_

' _Oi did Sasuke kun just notice our refined skills?! This is totally a fan girl worthy moment!'_

 _'Stop popping up when I don't need you! I already said it once and I guess I'll have to say it again. I'm NOT going to fan girl over Sasuke kun...Sasuke I mean. I'm here to complete this mission and bring back the prince.'_

Finishing off his huge opponent, Naruto walked back to regroup with his team mates. "Oi, that guy was pretty good. But he's history...Sakura chan, where was that hide out again?" Sasuke spoke first before she could. "Just stand your ground loser, we're not going anywhere...their coming to us." Naruto furrowed his brows as he looked at him. "I'd consider myself a winner since I defeated 3 fat old guys!" Sasuke looked at Naruto with an annoyed expression. "Hn, over achiever." Making the fox man's blood boil amused Sasuke, and Sakura could tell at how even though Sauske wore a bored face most of the time he was still enjoying himself.

Suddenly, emerging from the side of the bushes, four men took their stand before team 7. Sasuke spoke first. "Where's the other 3 guys?" Without looking his way, she replied. "The other three fell back and stayed at their hideout I assume."

"Smart girl...and pretty...heh. The things I could do with her in the late hours of the night." The other men laughed as they agreed.

Shocked at how obscene the man was being, Naruto shot a death glare at the them. "Asshole, shut your fucking mouth! Don't ever talk about Sakura chan like that!" The man continued as he found, it angered the blond. "Oh come on blondie, she's a babe. You know, we never really get the chance to encounter pretty women such as her very often. I can't wait to have those pink locks tickle my face when she's.." Suddenly, a brush of cold air rushed around the snickering man, he suddenly felt a stabbing pain through his chest. He looked down and saw a hand had been driven through his chest with sparks of what appears to be lightning. Sasuke ripped his hand out and stood back as the man fell to the ground. "Yo, he killed Izuko! You'll pay for that!" Sasuke jumped back to his friends as he glared at the men. "Please...I could buy out you and your pathetic group." Naruto grinned at Sasuke's comment. "Yeah he totally could!"

The four men charged towards team 7 and launched their attacks, they were a bit stronger than the previous four but the team easily managed to pull through. In the middle of their battle, a tall man came running from the same direction the men had came from and yelled at the top of his lungs. "Help me! Please help!" He spotted Sakura first since she was the first person his eyes has selected due to her hair's bright pink hue. "Are you of the leaf village? Please tell me you are." She kicked the bandits away from her and looked back at the man. "Prince Junichi?" He nodded with a worried look upon his face. "Yes from the land of fire! Thank Kami you're here. I just escaped from their hideout... WAHH!" Sakura pushed him away as she punched another bandit in the stomach, sending him flying back. "Don't worry your highness, we'll get you back safe and sound." She looked down at his restrained wrists, and used a kunai knife to cut him free. As the same bandit who she just punched a few seconds ago came back, he raised an open hand to slap her but when he brought his hand down to her she stabbed her kunai knife through his hand and kicked him down. The prince's eyes widened as the blood splattered everywhere, including his face.

Hearing noises from behind them, the prince looked back and saw the remaining three men whom were at the hideout with him a few minutes ago. Panicked, he grabbed Sakura's shoulder. "There's the remaining three!" She looked back at them but it was too late, one of the men had lasso'ed the prince and dragged him back to them and ran off. "Damn it, no!" She exclaimed. She looked over her shoulder to see Sasuke and Naruto fighting off their opponents. "Sasuke...Naruto., I'm going after the prince!" They had heard her, but when they looked over she was gone. Naruto growled as he punched the man in front of him. "Damn it, we've got to go after her!" Sasuke sliced one of the bandits arm wide open. "Stating the obvious, as usual." Naruto pointed at him angrily. "Oh shut it, I just want to make sure she's alright. And of course to check on the status of the prince." Sasuke only looked at the ground. "Damn, aren't you worried about Sakura chan?" His friend ignored him. "Well..you should be. She's your friend too, weather you like it or not." They had finally finished off the last man at this time.

Listening to Naruto's words made him think. _'Like I'd let you know, loser. I'm sure she can manage on her own. She's...different'_

Not paying enough attention, Naruto felt a fist land on his cheek. He stumbled back and rubbed the place where he was hit and glared. "What a weak punch, and you call yourself a bandit?"

They were surrounded.

 **Somewhere deep in the forest...**

She pushed herself to go faster, they were right in front of her; he was unrestrained. She forced her legs to run faster as she reached out to grab Prince Junichi. She grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled back as hard as she could, which sent him flying towards her. She anticipated this and welcomed him with open arms as he flew into her. Easily maneuvering their combined body weights, she shifted and rolled onto the ground without injuring the prince. The three men turned their heads to see that the prince was in the arms of his rescuer, so they stopped in their tracks and started running towards them. She stood up and got into a defensive stance, readying herself for them, but looked all around her as 4 more men emerged from behind the tall trees. "What the hell? There's more of you?"

 _'Everywhere we go, they seem to be popping up.'_

Knowing that this situation was far too dangerous for the prince to be in, she turned back to him and grabbed his hand and ran. "W-where are we going?" She quickly replied. "We've got to lose them, it's far too dangerous for you to be there with only me to protect you. Now just push your feet off the ground when I give the cue alright?" He looked at her with a terrified expression. "What? Why?!" She looked back at him. Her beautiful green eyes sparkled as the sun hit her face. "Just trust me." Surprised at how exotic she looked in that moment, he blushed and nodded, then pushed his self off the ground at her command. After getting used to jumping through the trees with her, he jumped comfortably while still holding onto her hand for dear life.

 **Inside a hidden lair, deep in the Forest Of Death...**

"Hm, figures. I knew this would happen" Said the Uchiha. "Then why choose those useless low rank bandits Itachi?" the bewildered fish man asked. "Shouldn't it be obvious Kisame? I wanted to see how my little brother was doing." Kisame gave him a suspicious look. "Something tells me that isn't completely true..." Barging in without knocking, one of the bandits ran in, out of breathe. "The men have been slaughtered apathetically Itachi sama! Please you've got to do something. My men are dying as if they were flies being swatted." Itachi looked at the man as if the news didn't affect him in any way, suddenly he appeared in front of the bandit with an iron grip clasped around the man's throat; he lifted him up off the ground. "Pathetic." The man tried to pry Itachi's hand off his throat in a failed attempt. "W-what?" He croaked. Itachi brought his red eyes up to the mans gaze. "I don't need you and your useless men anymore, your men can either die or run away...I don't care." He dropped the man on the hard ground, then threw a small sack of the payment was due. "Don't let me see your face again, that'll be your biggest mistake." The man grinned in a mad man like manner at the sight of the money pouch. "Y-yes Itachi sama, you won't see me _ever_ again. I can definitely promise you that! Yes...never again..." Itachi turned away from him and walked back to his seat while Kisame pulled the man's shirt up to force him to stand. "That means get the fuck out, _now_." He roughly pulled the man as he walked him to the enterance, then shoved him out the door. "Better remember what he told you, or else." The man nodded and ran away while laughing, overfilled with joy that he had money.

"So now that the bandits are out of the game, you're going to use the artists?" Itachi nodded. "Yes." Kisame frowned. "Why not I go instead? I'm been itching to face those children. For some reason, those three sure know how to make a fight exciting." Itachi looked at him with a bored expression, much similar to his little brother's. "I picked those two for a reason. Deidara wanted to get his revenge on the Jinchuuriki and Sasuke, while Sasori plans to his destory Sakura." Kisame looked at the ground and agreed silently. "Eh, I guess they need it more than me. Oh well."

* * *

 **Yup yup.**

 **So this is just half the battle people. There's way more to come.**

 **Sakura and Prince Junichi are separated from Sasuke and Naruto...how will this end?**

 **So as you read up there, the bandits were hired by the Akatsuki! Ooo just something to spice it up.**

 ** _***Another thing, when Naruto complains about how Sasuke doesn't seem to care too much about Sakura's well being._ *****

 _ **It's true, he's still adjusting to being around her and Naruto at the same time.**_

 ** _He doesn't really care too much at this point_. **

**Itachi sama :3 ;D lol he's so cool.**

 **My favorite pair are coming into the next chapter!**

 **Which members are your favorite from the Akatsuki?**

 **Let me know in the reviews section.**


	4. The Unexpected Battle

**Hey guys!**

 **This one took a while to upload cause this chapter involves a fight scene that I have been anticipating! lol.**

 **Plus my computer was being stupid and skipped to a different page in the middle of me writing so I lost part of what I was writing lol. But luckily, I remembered how I wrote it and finished it! Yeeupp.**

 **Hope you enjoy cause I know I did, writing this.**

 _(Note.. The Prince is a tall slender man, whom has fair skin, brown hair and eyes and is a bit of a coward at heart. His facial structure tends to make him appear attractive.)_

* * *

Divide and conquer was on the older Uchiha's mind. Getting team seven separated was what the plan was and it was working, oh so well. The pinkette and the Prince were out all alone together in the enormous forest, while Naruto and Sasuke were strayed behind, still at where they were first encountered by the criminals.

Starting to feel tired and weak, the Prince's face scrunched in slight pain every time his feet pushed off the tree branches. "Are you alright Prince?" She asked with a hint of worry in her voice. "Ah, I'm quite alright. Please don't worry about me." Not believing him for one second, she just flashed a worried look his way before turning her attention back in front of her. After what seemed like hours but in reality only 30 minutes had passed, they ended up in an somewhat open area that was mostly surrounded by stones, rocks and gravel. Standing not too far from what looked like an abandoned cave that was at least a few hundred feet high from the ground, she stopped for a second and felt the atmosphere for any signs of intruding charka traces from anyone else. Noting it safe here (for now) she observed the cave above them. While she looked away the Prince began giving into his act of being a tough guy and collapsed at her feet. "Argh...my legs..Tsk...they're so sore." She knelt down beside him and helped him to his feet, and made sure he was leaning against her as a support. "We need to find shelter...with your condition it seems we can't go any further." His tall figure of six-foot two towered her small figure of five-foot four, he looked down at her apologetically and automatically took responsibility for making them stop.

She took his arm and placed it around her shoulders, her arm already wrapped around his torso, and disappeared within seconds. Already up on the ledge of the cave, she brought them in a little deeper into the abandoned space and away from the cold winds that blew with slight force.

After searching the cave for wood and misc. debris, she gathered just enough to make a fire for them to keep warm, seeing him shiver was unacceptable. Even though she was uncomfortably cold as well, she put out a strong aura as to not look weak. She sat next to him and stuck her small hands out towards the fire just close enough to warm her freezing hands.

"I'm so sorry...What was your name, milady?" He looked at her with curiosity and sense of interest. "Oh I'm Haruno, Sakura." He smiled as he put two and two together. "Beautiful. A name to match your appearance." As if she's never heard that before. "I'm sorry?"

"Your hair is as light as a sakura blossom, your skin reminds me of those beautiful creamy colored lily's that float in my palace's ponds, the sakura blossoms sometimes fall from the trees and land in the pond and onto the lily's. It's actually quite a magnificent scene... and your eyes are as radiant and bright as the emeralds of the precious jewels in our royal collection." Seeing her cheeks turning a light pink, he stopped his descriptive compliments and only smiled. "Sorry...it's just...I think you're quite a beauty...also thanks for saving me Sakura chan." She nodded as she accepted his thanks. "Do your legs still hurt your highness?" He nodded as he winced at the pain when attempting to move his legs. "Please stretch your legs out in the front of you." He followed her command, not sure what she was up to. Her hands glowed a soft green as she began placing them inches away from his legs. She healed his aches and twisted muscles. "Wow..you're a medic too?"

While her eyes were busy focusing on his legs, he couldn't help but stare at her. ' _She's the fairest girl I've ever seen..._ ' he thought. She noticed him staring after a while and stared back into his brown eyes. "Are you hurting still?" She asked, trying to rid the awkward feeling she felt in her stomach. "No, I'm alright Sakura chan. Thank you very much for everything, you are my savior. I must repay you." Her eyes slightly widened as her hands lost their green glow and raised up in front of her . "Oh no please, I don't need any rewards your highness. It's my job to ensure your safety, I was only only doing what needed to be done." He nodded, taking note of her selfless act and loyalty to her mission.

Then there was silence between them.

Suddenly loud sounds of wings flapping developed as a large group of bats emerged from the darkness of the cave. As the bats moved quickly through the top of the cave and out into the free world, the Prince moved in one swift maneuver. She was lying on her back, with the Prince towering over her his hands were placed beside her head and his knees on either sides of her hips. Her surprised green orbs met his brown ones as they stared at each other for a good ten seconds before one of them spoke. "I sorry Sakura chan...did I startle you?" She only shook her head, still frozen under his gaze. "Sakura chan..." His voice softened as did his eyes, his gaze changed as if he'd been hypnotized by her. He began lowering himself down slowly towards her, closer and closer until he was only inches away from her face. Not knowing how to act as she didn't want to reject the prince in a harsh manner, she covered her mouth with her hand before he closed in for a sweet kiss. His eyes opened once he realized he was kissing the back of her hand and not her soft plump lips that seemed extremely irresistible to him.

Though the Prince wasn't usually an 'act on impulse' type of man, he couldn't help it in this situation. Being saved by a strong woman whom contained immense power, and was beautiful on top of it all, how could he resist? He is still a man after all. He rose up and away from her and sat back, feeling embarrassed at his sudden urge to kiss her. She also slowly sat up and looked at him as she tried to process what just happened.

 _'The Prince of the Land Of Fire...was actually going to kiss me?'_

 _'Hell yeah he was! See I told you how fine we are. He couldn't resist muwaha!'_

 _'Shit, not you again.'_

Immediately bowing down til his forehead touched the cold ground, he began apologizing. "Sakura chan, I'm sorry for jumping you like that! It was ungentlemanly, please forgive me!" She took his shoulders in her hands and made him sit back up and looked at him with a reassuring expression. "It's alright, your highness."

He shook his head with a stern look in his eyes. "I acted on impulse...and for that I am deeply sorry. Please don't look at me as a perv." Stunned at his rather straightforward words, she just nodded as a response.

* * *

Slashing the necks of multiple enemy targets, the blazing Uchiha was eliminating his targets like it was nothing. Astonished, Naruto blinked at how fast his partner was and became motivated once again as he started slashing, punching and blasting the criminals away. It seemed as if they went through an army of these crooks, but as the enemy numbers began to cease they gained reassurance and finally finished the last man standing.

"Looks like team 7 is once again on top!" Naruto exclaimed as he raised a victorious fist towards the sky, which was sheltered with tree limbs and leaves. Reaching down and taking a unused handkerchief from one of the dead bandits, Sasuke took it in hand and wiped the filthy blood that was on his precious blade with the white material, then dropped it on top of the lifeless body. "Dobe." He said looking towards his friend. "Teme." The elated blond replied as he looked back at him.

"Alright, let's look for Sakura and the Prince. They've got to be close."

"Actually, by the way those men dragged the Prince like a rag doll away from here they probably made some distance. I can't believe there were _that_ many hiding out in this forest." the raven haired man said while retracting his newly clean sword back into it's holster. Naruto only nodded. "Lead the way then, Sasuke." They jumped out of sight and started their travels through the trees once again.

Looking for them and navigating was actually easier said than done, this forest of huge and on top of that compasses didn't work in this environment for an mysteriously unknown cause. They relied strictly on the map they were given by Tsunade.

20 minutes went by and they still had no sense of her chakra. Naruto grunted as he silently thought of where she could've gone. Suddenly interrupted by a pair of hands, he was pushed to the side and out of the way of a hidden tree paper bomb that was stuck to the tree's body. Anyone that was simply passing by without a keen shinobi eye would've easily missed it and died instantly, but since this wasn't the case Sasuke immediately spotted the small paper bomb and dodged it efficiently. Prepared for a string of those evil little bombs, the Sharingan holder pushed his friend out of the way just in time and began dodging the upcoming string.

Both men dodged,flipped and twisted out of the grasp of the deadly flames and pressures of the explosions. After a good 3 minutes of this, the trend of bombs stopped. "Shit...whoever resides in this creepy forest hates visitors." breathed Naruto.

"I would imagine, dobe."

Giving Sasuke a glare, they continued on their pursuit for Sakura and the Prince.

* * *

Adjusting his black cloak that was designed with misc. red clouds, the man spoke in a bored manner. "Damn my man, when will we go on with our attack? Hn."

The red haired man that was dressed in the same cloak replied in a slightly annoyed tone."In due time, be patient."

"Says someone whom absolutely hates waiting. Hn."

"Believe me, I would much rather have my fingers wrapped around that pink wench's neck than walk around this filthy forest."

"Eager are we? Hn."

"More than you think."

"How about I warm her up for you just so I can get a taste of what she's capable of, Hn?" He began to smirk.

"You sound like a perverted old man...I suppose you could, but not for long. I've been dying to get my hands on her."

The two Akatsuki members walked casually around the forest, knowing the oblivious Kohana shinobi would try to find each other and eventually run into the awaiting predators. Weather they be reunited or not, the duo were ready for them all.

After traveling for nearly thirty minutes without speaking, the Prince finally broke the awkward silence. "I truly hope you forgave me Sakura chan...I didn't mean to act lewd with you back there at the cave. I gave into some sort of feeling I was having at the moment." She nodded and flashed a small polite smile at him. "Don't worry about it."

Now traveling for a little over an hour, they approached an open area that looked as if it were made for serious battling. Not sensing any intruding chakra, she continued to lead them on. Almost half way through the spacious area, she stuck out a firm arm in front of the Prince to halt him, a finger met with her lips as she signaled the Prince to not say a word. She scanned the area and immediately noticed something was off. Suddenly, a few white clay-like obstructions dropped from the sky and began crawling towards them at a fast pace. She looked closer and saw that they were little clay spiders with red eyes that seemed like ticking timers, she grabbed the Prince and jumped back and out of the way, avoiding the evil little devices. Noticing they were not only fast,but rather smart. The spiders were set on a mission to explode on her and the Prince, all thanks to their master who commanded them.

She looked up and saw a hovering bird, and on it was none other than the Akatsuki member Deidara whom was grinning at her maliciously. She threw out several Kunai knives and destroyed the spiders that were near her before disappearing into the trees behind them and placed the Prince a safe distance away with three guard clones, she wasn't going to risk having the Prince harmed due to this S ranked criminal and his unfair ways of fighting.

Emerging from the darkness of the forest, she threw knives and destroyed the remaining little crawling bombs and then awaited him as he lowered his bird to greet her. "Being an escort are we Sakura?" He analyzed his enemy as she stood her ground beneath him. "And as a Jounin I see...tch nice vest. Hn."

 _'He remembers my name?'_ She thought as she intensified her glare towards him.

"I know you're probably thinking how I remembered your name right? Well how could I not? You _are_ the bitch that nearly destroyed my best friend. Hn."

 _'He must be talking about Sasori... of course, they are in a team.'_

"You're not getting _anywhere_ near the Prince, you hear me asshole?" Her voice full of venom.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about that, I'm not after that so called pathetic Prince of yours. I'm here for you and your friends, I'm sure they'll join you, soon after your six feet under. But now that you mention that useless Prince, he'd be a nice addition to my resume."

 _'He's sick... is he talking about his twisted little 'however many high-ranked people I've killed so far' list?'_

"Since you brought your 'best friend' up, where is the bastard?" She hissed.

"Ah, I see you're eager to see him as well." He smirked at her as her eyes pierced through his soul.

 _'Hn. I see why my man has second thoughts about this girl...she's scary but kinda hot...'_

"He reached in his bag of clay to create another explosive but was interrupted by a sudden shaking force that formed from the ground. He looked down and saw her punch the ground, and continued to watch as the ground cracked and flew up, creating large hills and craters in the earth. It looked as if mother nature caused this herself. Surprised at her incredible inhumane strength, he winced. _'Damn it, that freak was right. She's not going down without a fight.'_ At this moment, he goes back and remembers what Itachi had said to them before their departure.

 **Flash Back...**

Walking down the halls of their temporary hide out, Sasori and Deidara made their way towards the exit to start their mission, that is until a large fish like man stepped out in front of them. "Itachi wants to see you two before you leave. It's important." Within a few moments the trio reached a large room that only had a few furniture pieces in it. Standing in the middle of the room was Itachi, whom awaited for them patiently. "What is it Itachi?" asked the red haired puppet master. "Well, I just wanted to give a warning about your enemies before you two leave for your mission." Deidara scoffed at this. "We're S ranked criminals for a reason, we can handle these kids." Itachi's onyx eyes glaced over at the confident blond and spoke. "Those ' _kids'_ have grown more since the last time you encountered them. Do not underestimate them."

"We won't. Deidara shall take on Uzumaki and Uchiha...and the girl is mine." breathed Sasori.

Itachi noted their overflowing confidence. "Mark my , Naruto and my little brother are sure to put up a hell of a fight...as for the girl, she is the Hokage's disciple so I'm sure she won't play around either." Deidara and Sasori nodded their heads as they took in his words.

 **End if Flash Back...**.

Jumping through the trees at lightning speeds Naruto and Sasuke hurried through the Forest of Death in pursuit of their dear friend/team mate and the Prince, skillfully keeping an eye out for trouble as they went along. Suddenly, they heard a loud ear booming noise.

 _BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM_

This stopped them in their tracks as both landed on a tree limb and listened closely for the noise again. "Sounds like someone started a battle without us." Naruto said as he listened in. "Must be Sakura chan and the Prince...and more bandits." The raven haired man slightly shook his head as he activated his sharingan. "No, not bandits...someone with more power. Those men and their group only know of swordsmanship when in battle."

 _BOOM BOOM BOOM_

"Oi, let's go and assist Sakura chan then, teme." Earning a "Hn." from Sasuke, they jumped from the branches they were perched on and made their way towards the continuing booming sound. A few moments later, they arrived at the battle scene between Sakura and Deidara. Upon arrival both analyzed the settings and were about to jump to Sakura's aide but halted as they watched something miraculous and unexpected unfold before them.

Throwing several more Kunai knives at the deadly devices that kept being thrown her way, she flipped and jumped to the side and back away from the aftermath explosions expertly. When Deidara reached in his bag to grab more clay, she took this split second chance and grabbed a huge boulder and lunged it towards him and the large explosive bird he was riding while letting out a rough grunt. "Shannaro!" The boulder flew at a ridiculously high speed towards the unsuspecting man, he looked at the large object that was coming towards him just in time and evacuated the bird, tucking and rolling onto the ground. The impact that the rock had on the bird made a huge explosion in the air as they collided. Not giving him a chance to dig in his pouch, she appeared before him and slammed her fist onto his cheek using mostly all of her body weight to back her strength up even more, his head turned with the force of her punch as he flew back a couple hundred feet and slammed into the body of a tree, which split in half and fell over, nearly crushing him beneath.

Watching all of this happen Naruto was shocked at how Sakura handled the Akatsuki bastard so well. His mouth hung open as his blue eyes followed her every move. Though he was extremely silent, Sasuke was also just as shocked as his friend. Seeing this new Haruno, Sakura surprised him beyond belief. The Sakura he was seeing right now, in front of him was one whom had changed completely, this Sakura faced the enemy head on without wasting time or waiting for someone to help and save her. This sparked an interest and curiosity in him towards her.

"Well let's go teme, we haven't got all day." the blond grunted. Sasuke only nodded as he and his friend joined in on the fight.

"Hey bastard, looks like we meet again! I see you've grown you're 'Ino' hair a bit longer. Tryna to out-do her or something?" Sakura looked behind her and saw her long awaited team mates standing with her once again. "Sasuke kun...Naruto..." Deidara glared towards the voice, but realized the one he's been waiting for was now here. "Ah, you finally made it to our little party Uzumaki...I see Uchiha is here as well, your presence is far overdue. Your brother and I were just talking about you and how you'd be putting in your best effort into this little fight of ours, I hope you won't disappoint him. Hn." Angered by the mentioning of his older brother, Sasuke's red eyes narrowed at the snickering man.

"Let's get this over with." hissed the Sharingan user.

With his devious grin still plastered on his face, he slightly pouted. "Well, isn't this unfair. Only one of me against all three of you. Let's make it fair, ne?" At this moment, Sasori appeared and joined his partner on the battle field. His honey colored eyes were glued on his prey, Sakura.

Breaking the tension, Naruto jumped into action against Deidara. The clashing of weapons begn to ring through the air as the all out battle began between all five skillful participants.

After a good twenty minutes, a small chance showed itself to Deidara, so he took it. Within the small time period that he had, he attached a large spider onto Naruto's back. The weary fox-like man began struggling to get it off and throw it away from him. Sasuke, still throwing logical jutsu's towards Sasori at the time saw this and began making his way over to Naruto but was stopped when the puppet he was battling against got in his way and routed him away from his struggling friend. Sakura however, took her chances and turned her back towards Sasori and rushed over to Naruto's aide. Her eyes flickered towards Deidara whom was raising his hands to complete the explosion jutsu; before he could, she threw four kunai knives at him that eventually turned into clones as they got closer towards yet impressed at her technique, he blocked and dodged the clones attacks. As this was happening, Sakura ripped the stubborn spider off his back and tossed it in the air which was destroyed by a shuriken that was throw by Naruto.

Stabbing through all four clones, they disappeared in a puff of smoke and were soon replaced by a raging Naruto. Grinning at how ferocious the Jinchuuriki was being, he gave it his best and began counterattacking.

Not forgetting his main interest and enemy, Sasori darted his eyes towards Sakura and glared. Moving his puppet to block Sasuke's jutsu, he heard a crackle of wood and debris explode in front of him. Surprised, he turned his attention towards his enemy whom had sliced and cut off several body parts of the puppet that he was controlling, and disabling it from using it's deadly attacks. The puppet master twitched his fingers and pulled the puppet back away from the awaiting Uchiha and glared at him but with a smirk. "They always said Uchiha's were the best fighters around here, it seems you are proving them right." Showing no interest in what the Akatsuki member had to say, Sasuke kept his red eyes on the awaiting man as he dashed towards him with lightning now enveloping his blade.

He twitched his fingers in a fast manner and moved his puppet towards Sasuke but was surprised to see that the puppet was no longer the Uchiha's target, it was the controller himself whom he was after. Not being able to pull any tricks from his sleeve he had the puppet send out two flying swords towards his way, one was aimed for Sasuke while the other was aimed for Sasori to take. With this diversion working, Sasuke quickly turned his head and blocked the flying sword and turned his attention back to the man, whom was now holding a sword to defend himself. The clashes of metal rang through the air for the nth time as they were engaged in sword to sword combat. Not being able to use a free hand to control his puppet whom stood idly, he frowned as he blocked the strong blows Uchiha had been throwing at him all this time.

 _'Damn it all, I wasn't interested in fighting this Uchiha brat...I want the little girl. Stupid fool, he said he was only to have her for a warm up, yet he is still catching her attention. Tsk...I hate waiting.'_

Naruto and Sakura teamed up against Deidara as he began getting a kick out of the two shinobi. He grinned at them while getting up from the crater he had made with his body and wiped his forearm across his mouth.

 _'That woman is far more stronger than I thought...'_

"Ah you kohana shinobi are so confident in your moves I see...but you are _no_ match for my art!" He pointed a accusing finger at the two as he stuck a hand in his pouch and created two large explosives that looked like misc. monsters, along with smaller spiders. Dodging the explosives Sakura and Naruto efficiently destroyed the smaller spiders.

Though he knew Sakura no longer needed to be watched out for as much, he still did anyways out of habit. Her battle antics and techniques impressed him, she had improved since the last time they fought together. "Naruto, watch out!" a female voice yelled towards him, breaking his thoughts. He looked in front of him at the approaching monster bomb and jumped a distance away from the beast. "Be careful with those Sakura chan, I'm sure that bastard loaded those big ugly beasts with more than enough explosives." She nodded as they jumped and split up into different directions.

She landed softly on her feet and watched as Naruto tried to find a way around the beast to get to the annoying Akatuski member whom controlled it.

Suddenly hearing fast light footsteps, she looked back towards the sound. He lunged his chidori sword towards her back as he approached her. "Move Sakura!" a frustrated velvet-like voice yelled. Her once determined expression changed into a shocked one as she saw those familiar red sharingan eyes right in front of her. She gasped and dodged his attack. He wasted no time in pulling his sword back and once again lunging it towards her once more, of course she dodged it by a hair as so she thought, until she felt warm trickles of liquid seep from her forearm. She grabbed her bleeding arm and looked at him.

"What are you doing Sasuke?!" She said as she dodged another attack. "The puppet over there is controlling me." he grunted as he held his sword firmly in hand whilst walking towards her. She backed away from him, not wanting to fight him.

 _'Damn it...not this again...I hate fighting him...it brings back horrible memories.'_

Disrupting her thoughts, he dashed towards her and used his sword as leverage as he jumped up and stuck his foot out to kick her. She grabbed his foot and swung him back and away from her.

This was the beginning of their lightning speed battle.

 _'Finally...after so long I get to test out and see the beauty of that wretched girl and her art of fighting. So intense, yet different.'_ Sasori thought as his eyes were glued on the pinkette. Using her own team mate and friend to destroy her, and to see her distressed face as she fought Sasuke was the ultimate high.

Not holding back, yet being cautious she fought with Sasuke while keeping in mind that she needed to disable those chakra strings to free him. He lunged his sword towards the middle of her face, with such speed that she almost couldn't dodge but with quick precision she let her body fall backwards towards the ground and watched the electrical sword pierce through the air where her face would've been. His red eyes looked down at her as his arms raised the sword to stab down at her torso, she rolled out of the way of his sharp blade as he brought it down into the ground and kicked her strong legs out at him sending a remarkable distance away.

'She's gotten better than I thought. Keep it up Sakura, you can do this.' the raven haired man thought as he recovered in mid air and landed on his feet.

She rose to her feet and dusted herself off a bit before glaring at Sasori. Her jagged glare pierced through him, which brought more excitement to him. Her glares were nothing to be brushed off, yet he was enjoying them as if she was sending him a love note. It made him want to destroy her and add her into his beloved collection.

She suddenly disappeared and appeared in font of the puppet master with a confident smirk upon her lips. She crashed her first into his face and sent him flying back. Thinking this punch would distract him enough to release his grip on Sasuke, she landed back down on the ground and watched him hit hard against the ground. She then looked around for her team mate who was nowhere to be found.

"Shit...where's Sasuke kun?" Her emerald eyes frantically looked around the area for him but was unsuccessful. Suddenly she felt a surge of pain in her back as a foot planted into her spine and sent her flying forward a little distance. She looked back through the flying dirt and dust and saw those red eyes she was just looking for a few moments ago. "S-sasuke...kun." She managed to say through her teeth. "Get up Sakura, you're not done yet. He's still got me." She shook her current emotions off and rose to her feet quickly and faced him with a new ambition in her eyes. As he gazed into her sparkling orbs, he noticed this and took a mental note of how she was more than ready to do whatever it takes to free him of the malevolent puppet manipulator and master.

"Sakura..." he spoke softly. This tone of voice surprised her but she made no effort to show it. The puppet master himself was now back on his feet from the hard hit he took a few moments ago, he smirked with a hunger for more action. "Tsk, Tsk, tsk...seems like the little girl and Uchiha have some kind of special connection that I don't know about? Don't tarnish our relationship little blossom." They both turned their gaze towards Sasori as he spoke. "Well...it's about time to cut your chit chat short."

He twitched his skillful fingers and began manipulating Sasuke once again, he made the raven haired Uchiha cut his sword through the air towards her, she moved quickly and jumped back with him in a hot pursuit after her. The clinking of his sword against her kunai knives caused sparks to fly in the air. She decided to make some distance between them and jump back into the trees away from the sight of the puppet master. Without seeing his target how could he have Sasuke attack her? She jumped into the trees and perched onto a thick branch and watched Sasori closely as she properly disinfected and bandaged her forearm that was cut by Sasuke earlier.

She sucked her breath in as she heard a crack of a single twig from below, her eyes looked around to see what could've made the noise but with nothing in sight she remained once again looked up to see Sasori in the same place he had been and ruled him out as the one who made the noise; continuing to look between her arm and the red haired freak, she froze and locked eyes with him. He was smirking in a way that made her skin crawl.

 _'Shit...he spotted me.'_ She thought as she jumped away from the current branch and onto another one, in attempt to get out of his sight. The feeling of being watched however did not go away, looking around her she saw no one, but when her eyes instinctively darted up she saw none other than the one she had been fighting with all this time. Sasuke grunted as he jumped up into the air and pulled his sword back to his side as he held it with both hands , in a ready and awaiting stabbing-like position to pierce through her and ultimately eliminate her. He collided with her as he pinned her to the tree trunk.

 **It was so silent...**

Not a word had been spoken, no movement had been made...in the air was pure _dead_ silence.

Both breathed heavy in attempt to catch their breaths, his one leg was placed in-between hers, his lean muscular body was against hers as he was still in a position as if he really did stab her. His hands were still placed on the sword's handle as he struggled against the strings that held him captive. Without wasting another second, she took this opportunity to cut the chakra strings with her chakra concentrated kunai knive and freed him. Breathing shakily, she realized how close to death she was when he stabbed his sword through the tree trunk, her back was still against the trunk as she looked down at where he had stabbed instead.

 _'Only a few centimeters away... he was strong enough to resist Sasori and precise the angle of the sword.'_

He rose from his semi crouch like position and let up on his grip on his sword as he brought his face up to hers with only a few inches to separate them. His red eyes seemed as if they stared into her very soul, this was how focused he was on her. One hand planted itself against trunk of the tree next to her head while the other raised up to her forehead with two fingers out and tapped her affectionately. "Good work..." he breathed. Her eyes widened at this and an unintentional blush creeped onto her already rosey cheeks. "Sasuke kun..." Feeling his warm breath on her face as he spoke and understanding his words and ways of showing his affection brought hidden feelings up to surface in her, feelings that she had locked away in a dark 'treasure' chest with a huge lock that had no key.

"Let's go." He said calmly as he straighten his figure back up, now towering her small frame with his height of six feet. She mentally shook her thoughts away as she nodded with a determined expression.

Awaiting their expected return, Sasori smirked as he kept a watchful eye on the darkness of the forest. His eyes focused on a new subject as the pinkette walked out from the trees and bushes. Fire and determination clouded her eyes as she kept them on him. As soon as his eyes laid on her, he attached her strings, disabling her from making any sudden moves. "What happened to my human puppet, little girl?" She glared at him as she continued to silently provoke him. "Not talking I see, what's the matter, Sasori's got your tongue? It's not like you to not spit fire at me." With shaky hands, she managed to make a hand signal, this caused the ground under her feet to dip in with force as she planted herself into the earth. He twitched his fingers to make her move but she was now truly immobile.

"Coming up with new tricks huh?...what are you planning little girl? I could slice your throat with such ease now." He slightly smirked as he saw her defiantly glare at him.

"Prepare to die motherfucker." she growled. Astounded at her choice of words, his eyebrows rose.

 _Inner Sakura somehow managed to push her thoughts out verbally._

 _'Shannaro! Finally, I get to speak my honest mind!'_

While gathering his thoughts back, a cold wind lashed around from behind him as he felt a new sudden unexpected presence. He slightly looked back with narrowed eyes and saw angry sharingan eyes staring right back at him. Then he felt pressure through his abdomen, when he looked down he saw that Sasuke's sword had impaled him from behind. When he looked back up he saw Sakura disappear in a cloud of smoke. _'A clone.'_ He thought as his chakra strings retracted . Breaking him from his thoughts, a fist headed straight for his face caught his attention. Within this small time frame he managed to release a few needles from his palms towards her. Only two successfully grazing across her skin, she ignored the pain and smashed her powerful fist into his puppet face. With crackling sounds of wood breaking apart, they had successfully tore Sasori in half. The bottom half of his puppet body had stayed in place as Sasuke's sword held him there, while the force of Sakura's punch, blew his upper half away.

This impact created a huge crashing sound that caught the attention of Deidara and Naruto, whom were still fighting. The Akatsuki member looked over and saw his partner's puppet parts scattered all over the place. "Oi, quit making a mess out of my man, Hn." He looked closely at his 'lifeless' friend and saw a silver kunai knive stuck into his core.

 _'Damn it...that's not good. Hn.'_ Deidara thought as he suddenly stuck his hand into his pouch. Team seven readied themselves for his attack but was surprised as their enemy didn't launch clay at them. Instead he focused his clay arts towards his friend and partner as an orb like ball engulfed Sasori's weakened body and turned into a bird that then flew up into the sky making it's escape from the preying shinobi. He threw a few more bombs at them before taking his leave as well. "We'll be seeing you three punks soon. Count on it. Hn."

As he flew through the air, he began thinking to himself. _'Hn. That little bitch knew where his core was. Tch...for now we'll retreat but this doesn't mean that this is the end.'_

Naruto tried his best to catch the man before he left but failed to do so, all they could do now was watch them escape. "Damn...those bastards got away." Naruto hissed as he glared where the fleeing Akatsuki just were. He looked back at Sakura and Sasuke as he took his mind off his enemies for a moment. "You guys...did great! I got to see a little bit of how you two fought together and smashed that puppet sucker to pieces." He beamed as he became excited and proud that they fought as team seven and made the Akatsuki flee from battle. She slightly smiled at her enthusiastic friend and nodded. Sasuke spoke this time. "Where's the Prince?" Sakura turned her attention to him and replied. "He's coming this way."

Curious, both men awaited for the Prince of Fire to emerge from the forest. Just as expected, he walked out with the three clones of Sakura whom had protected him in case of intruders. Once he approached them, the clones disappeared."I am so glad to see you guys again! I was praying the whole time for your safety." He looked at the two men before him and smiled. "Hello, I assume you are Uzumaki, Naruto?" He looked at Naruto first. "Uh, yeah?" the blond replied. The Prince turned his gaze to Sasuke next. "Ah, and you're the famous Uchiha, Sasuke." He only gave the prince a nonchalant look. "Yes."

After their greetings had ended, Naruto spoke up. "Well, now that we have the Prince let's hit the pavement."

The other four agreed and began their journey back towards the Land Of Fire.

* * *

 **OMG, this chapter is done yay. Hahaha**

 **Whatchu think boo? :P**

 **Yup, that fight sequence was what I was excited to write. Sasuke vs. Sakura.**

 **He finally sees that she had grown up and that she knows how to control herself and take charge. You go girl! Whoop.**

 **(Sasori's not dead of course) his core is just injured with one of Sakura's million kunai knives she has stashed lol.**

 **I don't want to eliminate Sasori kun from existing in this story lol.**

 ********Thanks for taking your precious time to read and view my story. *********

 **Next chapter is soon to come.**


	5. Blush

**Hello again!**

 **Thanks for coming back to read chapter 5!**

 **Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

The group traveled towards the Land Of Fire with the prince safely in their possession. Walking by foot, Sakura looked up above them at the trees and thought back to their fight with the Akatsuki.

 _'Those bastards...to use Sasuke against me like that... Sasori is more sneaky than I thought.'_

A sudden rumbling sound interrupted her from her thoughts so she looked over from where is was coming from and saw Naruto hold a hand over his stomach with and a pouted lip. "Ahh man, I'm getting kinda hungry. How much farther is the land of fire anyways?"

"Hn...dobe we still have a quite a journey before we get there."

A feminine voice joined in and spoke."We should travel above ground, it'll be faster."

The three men took a moment and looked at the pinkette whom was still looking above. She broke her gaze from the sky and looked back down at them. "Did I say something strange?" They shook their heads in unison. "Uh, Sakura chan I don't think the prince can jump around like we can.." The prince quietly chuckled and commented. "Actually I can if I have some assistance. I made it out alive all thanks to our sweet Sakura chan." He said as he took a step closer towards her "And if you don't mind ...I would like you to help me." She nodded in agreement as she watched him come stand next to her. "Oh, sure."

Not missing a single expression of their faces nor any blinks of their eyes, Sasuke watched closely and how the Prince was acting when he interacted with her. He saw the way his eyes brightened up and the way his smile suddenly turned smug and warm. Was their rescue mission subject flirting with her? Seriously, how could he do such a thing to one of his saviors? It was utterly ridiculous to him. Did this make him jealous? Nah, Sasuke Uchiha was never jealous of anything or anybody...right?

Not pleased with this, he grunted lowly. "Hn." Naruto only heard him and looked back to see what was wrong.

Naruto look notice as he stared at the concentrated Uchiha man."Hm? What's up with you Sasuke?"

"Nothing dobe, just...let's just go already." He suddenly disappeared leaving only the leaves beneath them rustling from his exit.

His clueless friend only watched from below as Sasuke perched on a tree branch, awaiting for the rest to jump up and continue moving forward with him.

Sakura wrapped her arm around the Prince's waist as he placed his arm around her shoulder just as they did before and took their exit. All four moved on with their journey once again to the Prince's home, only now a bit faster. About two hours went by and things were going smoothly, no signs of the Akatsuki or bad guys lurking around or troublesome figures. For the first time in a long time, it was quiet and strangely peaceful.

The sky became darker as the sun was making it's way down; she was feeling just fine all this time but now felt as if her body was being drained of all it's energy for some reason, ever since that battle ended she knew something was off but couldn't tell exactly what it was. At this point, it was getting more obvious mentally and physically to her, the feeling in her arms and legs became heavy and tired and a bit weak which was extremely unusual for her due to the fact that she never gets this tired after fighting a battle that didn't even last for no more than two hours. Her vision started becoming blurred by this point and her lips felt chapped and dry, cold droplets of sweat formed and slowly slipped down the sides of her burning face and then the worst of what could be happening right now happened; she felt a surge of excruciating pain shoot through the side of her upper thigh and the side of her abdomen where her rib cage were. Not expecting this kind of pain, she let out a small gasp and groan as she released her grasp on the Prince and lost her footing as well, she and the prince free felled from the tree tops followed by screams voiced from the his highness.

The two male ninja's immediately turned to look and saw their team mate had fallen, and so has their escortee so without wasting another second they split their separate ways making way towards the falling two. Sasuke's red eyes darted to the falling girl and flashed in front her in the same upside down position as she was in and embraced her into his welcoming arms, once they reached the ground he landed on his feet gently and lowered himself down to one knee as he let her rest in his arms. He noticed that her face was a bit paler than her usual delicate creamy color. Right now, she was the only thing that was on his mind and the only thing that concerned him. His brows furrowed as he gently ran the back of his hand across her cheek to feel how hot she was, then mentally noted that it wasn't looking good at all. "S-sasuke I'm fine, I just need to take a little break..." She opened her eyes and looked at him weakly, then towards Naruto whom had cached the Prince.

"You're not fooling me Sakura, we need to stop for the night. You're ill." His eyes never lost the growing concern they had as he looked down at her.

He quietly insisted in carrying her but she refused and rose up out of his arms and onto her feet once more, he stayed in his kneeling position and watched her struggle to walk forward. How quickly her beautiful shining face changed to a ill and pale expression puzzled him, how could she get into this state within the two hours they have been traveling. Naruto ran to them and began exclaiming loudly while trying to make her use him as a support.

"Come on Sakura chan, you've got to lean on me at a time like this you look so _horrible_ , just let me help you this once okay? Look, there's a spot over there we can go to so let me help you get there." He pointed towards a spot that seemed perfect for using as a overnight rest stop, it was just a few kilometers away.

Usually at a unintentional insult comment like that she would've already pummeled him into the ground, but she didn't this time simply because she was too tired to. Instead she shot a deathly glare at him which cause him to shiver. "Naruto, I can handle myself."

She let out another groan and grasped her upper thigh in an attempt to somehow squeeze the pain out. "Ah..shit." she said quietly. Sasuke was at her side and placed a gentle hand on her lower back and shoulder. "Let me carry you, it'll only hurt more if you walk." She straighten her form back up and held her side where the pain was coming from and winced in pain. "Ah no, that's okay I can make it till we get to our resting spot." She began walking away from him but was suddenly pulled forward by her arms as her legs were suddenly held up by firm hands, she just now noticed that she was actually being carried by the one who she was afraid to go on a mission with in the first place. She felt his soft raven hair against her face and the firmness of his biceps as they held her body up against his back. She could smell the now faint yet familiar scent of cologne as she breathed him in, she had never been this close to him in what seemed like forever. It was nice.

He slightly looked back at her and spoke. "Unless you want to fall off, I recommend holding onto my shoulders." She stared at him in a daze but snapped herself out of it and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck instead, and pulled herself against his back completely. Slightly surprised, he stood frozen before recomposing to his cool usual self. "Hn...Naruto, let's go before she get's worse." Naruto nodded and ran ahead towards the spot he had gestured to, the prince followed after him as he gave Sakura a worried look.

 _'She has a lot willpower and strength, seeing the way her face was... it's got to be something serious.'_ Uchiha thought as he quickly made his way to their rest stop area.

By the time he arrived he looked up at a medium sized wooden hut that stood before him, which seemed to be made from using wooden style jutsu. Naruto rushed up to them and pointed towards the open door for him to take her inside and explained that the prince made the house using a jutsu he learned from one of the elders back at home.

He quickly stepped in and set her down against the wall since there was a lack of any furniture in the hut and put her backpack down beside her then knelt down onto one knee in front of her to be at the same eye level.

"Sakura, is there anything I need to do?"

She winced in pain as she grasped her side and thigh. "Ah, what the hell...it hurts as if I've been stung by a million bees or shot with poison arrows." A gasp escaped her lips as her eyes widened with realization and shock.

"What's the matter?"

"That's it...it was those needles he got me with back there, damn it! They were dipped with poison! The same poison he got Kan.." Choking on her words, she coughed.

Not even finishing up her sentence, she began cutting her entire pant leg off and throwing her vest and shirt off, revealing her small figure, sports bra and smooth long leg not caring that Sasuke, was still in the room she frantically began healing herself, her hands glowed a soft green as they hovered over the affected thigh and side.

With a surprised reaction, he looked away and to the side at the wooden ground. At first not sure if he should be watching her like this.

"Sasuke, grab the herbs and water bottle from my bag and smash them into a paste. Please...hurry."

He followed her instructions and searched though her bag til he found a small bento box full of medicines, herbs and other misc. ingredients. He took out her small mortar bowl and pestle and began smashing the herbal plants while adding water and a few other ingredients until it became into a paste like form.

"How do you know this will work on that type of poison?"

"I've dealt with his poison before, when Kankuro was inflicted with it I created this antidote to rid his body of it and it worked fortunately, but since I don't have all the ingredients at hand to make a liquid form I just had to go along with this paste option."

She looked at his progress and smiled at his effort. "You mind spreading the medicine on the wounds? I don't want to risk stopping the healing process right now...the pain is too unreal, now I know how Kankuro felt when he was going through this." He silently agreed and began spreading the medicine paste onto the two precise wound slices, being careful as to not put any unnecessary pressure on them. He felt soothed at how warm her glow was as his fingers went under her healing hands.

Doing a good job at not showing it, he was actually impressed at how good her body looked and how nervous and embarrassed he actually was, seeing her like this and all. The only time he'd ever seen her midriff and chest was when they were children and Kakashi had treated them to relaxation time at their local pool. She wore a two piece that exposed the appropriate amount of skin for a younger tween, back then he didn't really notice her at all due to the fact that her body was not developed at the time. His eyes unintentionally wandered her body, from her long pink locks to her glistening eyes and her full breasts, down to her small waist and finally those long legs that looked ever so smooth.

Then, Her voice awakened him from his trance like gaze.

"Thanks...Sasuke kun."

"You're welcome." He set the bowl and pestle down beside him as he heard the sound of multiple footsteps coming towards the door along with the voices of Naruto and the Prince, withing seconds Sasuke was at the front door standing guard as to not let anyone else enter for Sakura's sake. There was no way he would let these other guys see her half nude like this for a few reasons: first because it would embarrass her and there was no way he would let Naruto peek because he knew how he would get, and then the prince, whom was basically a stranger so that would be a bad situation and lastly because he wanted to be the only one to see her like this. Was it selfish of him? No way.

"Hey Sakura ch...OW what the heck, why isn't the door opening?" Naruto began wiggling the handle.

"Go away dobe."

"Hey what the heck Sasuke? How come you won't let us in, we want to check on Sakura chan too."

"You can't, this isn't a good time right now, she's still healing herself at the moment. Go set up a fire in the mean time and heat up those bento boxes you brought... if I wasn't so sure I would've thought that there was a monster out there, your stomach is practically roaring."

"If she's in a private state as you say she is, then why are you still in there Sasuke?" The prince said in a calm tone, eagerly awaiting his answer.

 _'None of your business you perv prince.'_

"Hn."

"What does Hn, mean?" He heard the confusion in the Prince's voice as Naruto tried to explain how it was just Sasuke's way of answering to certain situations. It was just a Sasuke thing, he didn't have to answer to this brat Prince anyways why would he have to? Sakura needed him, so he stayed put showing no signs of leaving her anytime soon.

She looked at Sasuke whom stood at the front door, still quietly bickering with the other two males outside the door about allowing entrance to see her. She slightly smiled through her painful expression at him and began to think.

 _'I never would've imagined Sasuke kun would be standing in here with me, helping me and all, although I will most definitely feel embarrassed about this later when I have more time to day dream.'_

 _'Ha Finally, the marvelous day has come where Sasuke kun gets to see our rockin' bod' and chest! He has got to have notice me by now.'_

 _'Not this again, I am trying to keep my mind off being half nude in front of Sasuke...if I think about it I'll end up blushing to death.'_

She turned her attention quickly back to her wounds as Sasuke turned and walked towards her again, he knelt down onto one knee and looked at her with the same concern lingering in his onyx eyes. "Is there anything else you need Sakura?" She looked at him and shook her head with a small smile and then watched him get up and sit beside her, his arm was propped up on one knee as the other leg laid straight out in front of him, his head was turned looking away from her.

 **1 hour later...**

By now, she had managed to heal out mostly all the poison that lingered in her body so all that was left now was the thin slice wounds. She let herself lay against the wall to rest as she looked towards her partner that sat beside her whom was now looking down at the floor in front of him. "Sasuke kun.." He looked towards her at the mention of his name and awaited her answer. "Hn?" She smiled at him and slightly bowed from her sitting position with thanks, and spoke. "Thank you for your help...but you know you didn't have to.." He interrupted her before she could say anymore. "I know you're strong and you've proven that over and over Sakura, but at times like this..." He broke his sentence and became silent, she kept looking at him with wondering eyes as she waited for him to continue but he didn't. "What is it?" He continued his silence as he returned his gaze to the wall straight in front of them, what he wanted to say was something that shouldn't escape his lips at least not now and he knew that because it would change the way she would look and think of him entirely. She dropped her gaze to his sword that laid between them and back to her own hands that rested in her lap, then she began digging through her bag until she found the bandage wraps she had brought and started unrolling it and wrapping it around her thigh.

Since he wasn't speaking, she tried making small talk to recover from the somewhat awkward cliff hanger conversation they just had. "Anyways, we made a great team back there against Sasori." He finally looked back towards her once more and spoke. "Yeah, thanks releasing me from him. The bastard's sneakier than I thought" She nodded in total agreement and cut the bandage and tucked it under to keep it in place, then started wrapping it around her waist until she ran out of wrap to put around her. "Damn...sorry to keep asking you to do stuff for me but...could you grab the extra bandages out of my bag and help me wrap up a bit more." He nodded and grabbed the bandages from her bag as instructed and unrolled the roll. "Raise your arms out of the way." She looked at him hesitantly, but did as she was told and watched how focused his eyes were on her waist. He finished wrapping her up and placed the roll back into her bag, then returned to his previous position.

"Thank you, Sasuke kun."

Hearing her sweet voice call his name made his cold heart thump a bit faster, he knew why but didn't want to admit it aloud. He heard her call his name again and returned his gaze back to her. "I guess I just wanted to say sorry." This made him pay even closer attention as to why she would be apologizing to him right now. "What are you sorry for?" She looked back down at her lap and continued. "Well...I don't even know if you've noticed or cared but... I've been kinda avoiding you when we were in town. I don't even know why exactly...I guess it's all mixed feelings. But nonetheless I'm sorry. I just had to get that off my chest because it's been bothering me all throughout our journey. But from now on, I'll push past that and start anew." He just stared at her with a new expression of slight surprise at her confession and realized how he was right all along.

 _'I knew she was avoiding me, I'm glad she finally confessed it out loud.'_

They stared at each other for an intense thirty seconds before he broke their gaze and stood up, feeling a bit heated from staring into her sparkling pretty green eyes. "Ahem...Hn. Naruto should be finished heating up those bento boxes he brought, want me to bring our bowls in here or can you make it our there?" He looked down at her and awaited her response.

 _'Did he just say ' our' bowl's? Does that mean he would eat in here with me if I said I couldn't make it out there? How sweet...unusual of him, but very sweet.' _

"Ah, no I can make it. Thanks."

 _'He's changed so much..'_

 _'She's changed so much...'_

She used the wall as her support and rose to her feet and began walking towards the door, that is until her leg with the wound unintentionally gave in, causing her to stumble just a bit. He was by her side once again, holding her hand and elbow to support her. "Never mind that, I'll bring your food just wait here." She looked at him to begin protesting but saw the seriousness in his eyes and decided it would be better if she just agreed with him on this, so she did and allowed him to help her sit back down. He rose back up and walked out the door to retrieve her bowl and his as well, then after a few moments she heard his and Naruto's muffled voices through the wall. A minute went by until he finally came back carrying two bowls in his hands, he handed her the a bowl and took a seat in front of her with his own. After settling down, he looked up at her and gestured her to begin eating, so she nodded and began to eat silently with him.

It was like one of her many childhood fairy tales coming true, she had always wanted to eat alone with Sasuke like this weather it be on a date or just getting together for sake. She would always remember and treasure this precious moment.

After they finished their food, Naruto and the prince walked in and stretched their arms over their heads and to the sides indicating they were ready to retire for the night.

"Ahhh, I am so tired...I think it's time for me to crash guys." The blond grunted as he laid down in the middle of the wooden floor and placed his hands behind his head. The prince walked over the Sakura and Sasuke who seemed to be talking quietly to each other and tried to interrupt in the most polite way he could.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I couldn't help but come over to see how you are Sakura chan."

Sasuke looked back at him with a bored expressed while Sakura nodded and slightly smiled. "I'm doing much better, thanks." The prince smiled at her and walked over to a corner of the room to settle down and sleep the night off, though he had his back turned towards the three ninja's he could still feel someone's glare against his back.

 _'That Uchiha man...he's definitely got something stirring in him for Sakura. Hidden feelings perhaps? He plays it off well, but I can see through him.'_

Sasuke turned back to Sakura who was now rubbing her eye with a knuckle, she was tired and he was too. "Naruto's right, we should all sleep now we've got a journey ahead of us tomorrow." She silently agreed and laid down where she was and used her backpack as a pillow. "Good night." they said in unison. Slightly smiling she closed her eyes and began drifting off to sleep. He laid down as well in his spot in front of her but watched her a little longer, he couldn't help it. She looked so beautiful in the moonlight, absolutely everything about her intrigued him.

"You're beautiful." he said under his breath. His eyes shot wide as she raised her head and spoke, her eyes were still closed at the moment.

"Hm Sasuke Kun? Did you say something?" He reached over and gently pushed her head back down onto her backpack. "No. Go back to sleep." Not even trying, she fell back asleep within a few seconds. Finally feeling calmed again, he closed his eyes and did the same.

 _Six thirty AM comes by and all four are still asleep..._

Sasuke stirred out of his sleepy state and awoke with something warm and soft against his face, it felt so comfy that he didn't want to move so he just laid there motionless; but something else moved and held the back of his head ever so gently and pulled his face even closer into the soft something. His eyes opened and saw nothing but red clothing smothering his cheek, so he looked around and then finally up and saw locks of pink. His eyes widened as he now realized his face was indeed resting on her breasts and that she was delicately hugging him with one arm over him and her fingers intertwined in his black soft hair, and yet to his surprise he was hugging her back with one arm draped lazily over her waist. As if this situation wasn't shocking enough, something miraculous happened... something he had not done in a number of years...he blushed. (Sure he's blushed before but not _this_ kinda of blush) He dared not to move a muscle due to the fact that he was in her embrace and if he did move it would awake her and things would just become more awkward on his side than hers.

She blinked her beautiful eyes open and looked around a bit before moving her fingers through the soft hair that was in her grasp. "Hm, what's this?" She looked down and saw an arm resting over her body and three comma markings on the neck of the person she was embracing. A gasp escaped her lips as she let go of him and sat up in a quick motion, his eyes appeared to be closed so that was so good sign.

 _'Were Sasuke and I just...c-c-c...I can't even say it! Shannaro! We were cuddling!'_

"I uh...I...um..." was all she could say at this moment. She was so embarrassed and dumbfounded that her whole face turned red and she couldn't seem to stop stuttering.

He sat up slowly and stretched as if he had just woken up from his slumber, even though he had been awake the entire time. "Ah...good morning. Oh, are you alright? Your face is red." She covered her mouth and shook her head. "N-no I'm f-fine." He couldn't help but smirk at her, she looked so flustered and cute. "Are you sure?" She nodded and quickly rose to her feet and walked out the door to rinse her face from her steamy temperature. Once she was outside, she raised the water bottle she took with her and let the H2O fall onto her face, it was suddenly like adding water to a empty sizzling hot pan, her face felt as if steam had risen from it. "I was embracing Sasuke kun's head against my..." She walked around fanning herself with her own hand as she tried calming herself down. While quietly raving on about how embarrassed she was, she shut her mouth as she heard footsteps walk out the door and stop, turning around to see who it was, her face began feeling hot again at the sight of the beautiful man that stood before her. "S-Sasuke kun." He leaned against the wall of the wooden hut and looked at her with his arms crossed. "Hn?" She slightly bowed and kept her eyes locked with his. "Unm...Sorry that you were caught in my grasp earlier. You see, I tend to hug my blankets when I have one so that was probably why." He shook his head and flashed a beautiful yet rare smile she had never seen before, it was as if time had stopped at this moment just for her to gaze at him a bit longer. "Don't worry so much about it." She bowed and stayed in that position out of embarrassment until she felt a pair of hands gently grab her shoulders and made her stand up straight. She looked straight ahead and stared into his chest, then up and into his beautiful deep onyx eyes. After this, she heard his smooth silk-like voice speak and his warm breath spread across her face. "As I said before, don't worry about that. Listen...about what I was going to say last night, I just wanted to let you know that you..."

Right then, ruining their moment Naruto walked out and yawned loudly as he stretched his body around. "Ahh, I slept like a baby. How about y.." He opened his eyes and stared at the two whom were staring right back at him. "Uh..." The prince emerged from the hut as well and stretched his arms above his head with a small yawn. "I must say, the floor was actually more comfortable than I assumed it would've been...Hm?" He looked at Naruto who was still looking at the two.

Simply ignoring the two others, Sasuke turned his gaze back to hers and released his hands from her shoulders and spoke to everyone, although never breaking eye contact with her. "It's probably time for us to move along with our journey now that the sun is rising."

* * *

 **Yupperz, chapter 5 is done! Yay**.

 **Your support is appreciated :D**

 **Why Naruto kun? Why must you interrupt everything?!**

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **We'll meet again in Chapter 6. :)**


	6. This Changes Everything

_****Read Author note at the end of story, thanks.****_

 **Enjoy. :D**

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Team seven and their escortee had finally made it out of the forest of death and were finally approaching the gates of the the Land Of Fire. The prince's face brightened up as soon as he saw a familiar guard standing watch. "Yaku, I've never been this happy to see you!" he exclaimed as he ran and hugged the guard. Yaku smiled and greeted him politely as he stood still. "Your highness, we've all been worried sick about you. I am truly grateful to you three shinobi for returning our highness back safe and sound, Prince Junichi your father and mother are awaiting in the main chamber, please go there directly as they will most pleased to see your face." Junichi nodded as he lead the three inside the gates towards the main palace.

"Ah, It's great to be home again. Now he knew that the smell of the free air, the sounds of the children playing and the elders bickering at each other...those types of meaningless noises and sounds were taken granted for, but now greatly appreciated. "Come, we're almost there." and soon enough, they were inside the huge palace, and my oh my it was grand. It was very spacious and pleasant as expected. They entered through a large door arch and into the main room. "Mother...Father?" his voice rang through the empty air and caught the attention of the man and woman that were dressed in extravagantly expensive clothing, they turned and faced their son. "Junichi? My love, where have you been? We've been worried sick!" his mother said as she wrapped her arms around her son. "Hmp...it seems your childish ways have gotten the better of you, no wonder you were trapped and captured. Foolish son.." his father grunted as he crossed his arms.

Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto watched from the side as the small family gathered together. "Eh, I'm getting hungry." Naruto grabbed his stomach and listened to it grumble. "Dobe, you're talking to loud." his stomach replied with a loud roar. "Shut up teme, Uggh...my stomach is crying."

"Ha ha ah ha, I was just about to mention that to you three. I wish for you all to spend the night here and use our luxuries to the fullest." Sakura was the first to speak this time. "What type of luxuries are there?" his highness laughed in reply. "Why, there is basically everything a spa contains and more. Mud bath, hot spring, massage roomsm meditation sessions and etc. just name it, and it's there. There's also a banquet room where you may take a seat and order what ever your heart desires."

Naruto almost teared up at all of these precious words that fell out of the prince's mouth. "You sir...are a great man." before anyone could say anything, the blond was out of the room in a flash and into the banquet room. They could even hear his loud voice ring through the echoing walls. "Yeah, I'll have a supreme ramen bowl with eggs, vegetable's, tomatoes..." he continued listing different ingredients until the waiters of the banquet room closed the door to cease the noise from spreading into every room of the palace.

As the noise ceased, Sasuke turned to his pink haired team mate and spoke in a low tone.

"I don't think this is a good idea, we need to return to the village as soon as possible and report to the Hokage." She nodded and paused before speaking.

"I find that true...but..." she paused.

"But nothing Sakura, we _have_ to go back home. We can't stay here."

She looked at him, then towards the door that held the luxurious rooms behind it. She was getting too influenced by the grand feeling of the place.

"I know what you're saying...but can't we just stay for at least a little bit?"

"No Sakura...I said I don't th..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the Prince interrupted cheerfully and got in between them and wrapped his arm around Sakura's shoulder. "I think you both should stay. Relax Uchiha san, this palace is protected with the lives of our countless guardsmen and women. And if that's not what you're worried about and it's more about the Hokage, then I will contact her personally and ask her to allow you three graceful shinobi to enjoy what our palace has to offer. In fact, I'll personally show you around Sakura chan. And my good man Kuma will show you around if you'd like Uchiha san." he said over his shoulder as he walked away with the pinkette in his grasp from a pissed Sasuke. He was now standing alone in the corridor of the large palace, oh how he wanted to leave this annoying place.

 _'Damn it, bastard prince. What the fuck am I going to do now? That idiot Naruto started all this by running out without discussing it with us first, which influenced Sakura to follow along...ah damn it.'_

He showed her all the different rooms they had to offer, which ranged from massaging tables to a full out water slide play area. She was amazed that they could even build indoor water play grounds in buildings. It was simply amazing, she was slowly falling into the palm of his hand. He lead her to the massage table room and introduced her to an older woman whom looked like she had several years of experience in the art of massages. "Miyuki this is Haruno, Sakura and she will be your special guest for the evening. Please take care of her and be sure to smooth out all the hard work and stress her sexy petite body has withheld for these past few days. She worked hard to make sure my life was safe from danger." Miyuki nodded and smiled as she bowed towards Sakura as a greeting. Sakura on the other hand was too distracted by the Prince's words to greet the woman.

' _Sexy petite body?'_

Enjoying that he surprised her, Junichi smirked before leaving the two women alone in the room, from there Miyuki placed a gentle hand on her back and lead her to the massaging table she would be on for the evening. "Here is our station, please remove your clothing and hop up on the table. I will be right back with the oils and lotions." before she could leave Sakura stopped her. "Wait! Uhm sorry...but do I have to take _everything_ off?" Miyuki laughed and shook her head. "Undergarments are optional." she laughed to herself before leaving the room for her magic oils and lotions. Sakura looked around as if there were people around and made sure the doors were closed and locked before proceeding to take her clothing off and bra, only leaving her underwear on. "I'm starting to regret choosing the massage over the water slides...I shouldn't have gone in here for this." she crossed her arms over her chest to cover her self and hopped on the bed and positioned herself face flat, and adjusted her face into the gap that was specially cut into the head of the bed.

 _'Ah, this feels awkward. Ino always told me how relaxing massages were but I have a feeling I'm not going to like it.'_

She heard the door open and close as someone had entered the room, it felt as if the small hairs on the back of her neck rose with anxiousness. She's never had a professional massage before so she couldn't help the feeling. It sounded as if the person had squirted some type of oils or lotions on their hands and were now rubbing it in between their hands in preparation of giving the much needed massage. She heard footsteps come closer to her and stop at her side, and for some reason waited there. She spoke out loud to calm her nerves. "Um...Miyuki, sorry to be such a bother but I'm kinda feeling awkward. Could we start?" The person was silent but began the massage as commanded. Their hands started at her calves and worked their way up her leg, skipping over her clothed bum the hands slowly crept up to her lower back and further on. It felt more like sensual touching rather than massaging, so she spoke up once again. "Miyuki...I'm not an expert at massaging or anything but I don't think the way you're touching me is considered massaging...I find it rather inappropriate. Ya' know I think we should just end the session." she raised her head just a bit from the bed but was immediately pushed back down. "Hey what the...get your hand off me!" the person didn't listen and kept their hand on the back of her head. She began yelling as loud as she could and tried reaching for the person with a flailing arm. She got to get a punch in but it was unintentionally aimed lower than expected and hit the private part of the person holding her down, they grunted and she knew at that moment that it was no female grunt but a male's. Without wasting another second she used all the strength she had in her at the moment and pushed the man away from the table and sent him into a tumble. She sat up and crossed her arms over her chest to cover herself and immediately spotted the intruding man tangled in a pile of towels, she then realized it was no stranger but the Prince himself.

"Junichi what the hell?!"

He gathering himself off the ground and smirked. "I love women who have strength, it makes me feel comfortable in their presence as I would know she could protect me just as equally as I could protect her. It's fierce...it's sexy." he stalked towards her like he were a lion going after a fresh piece of meat. "And my oh me, you are one helluva woman Sakura chan."She jumped off the table and backed away. "Stay away you perv!" she yelled. He was almost within arms distance from her until a great force erupted from behind him and knocked him out cold. " You sick fucking bastard...calling you a damn prince is a disgrace!" a cold voice spat with such venom that it felt like the air was thickening. Her eye's widened at the scene she just witnessed. "I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry..." she kept saying towards Sasuke whom was now walking towards her with a blanket to cover her indecency. "Don't be. Just get dressed and leave with me." He left the room silently and waited outside the door until she came out fully clothed as she was before. As soon as she stepped out, a warm large hand grabbed hers and led her through the palace. He found the dining room in no time and stopped at the doorway before speaking.

"Hey dobe, get your ass over here and let's go."

The blond turned his head towards his friends, whom were still locking fingers and frowned. "Hey what makes you think you are allowed to hold Sakura chan's hand! And hell no, I'm in the middle of my feast!" All it took was those serious red eyes to flash and Naruto was up and out of there.

 _ **30 minutes later...**_

All were silent as they traveled, not even a peep from the fox like man whom was still angry about being interrupted during his dinner feast. They managed to make it back in time before it was too dark to see and planned on reporting to the hokage's office by leaving an official statement that they were back from their rescue mission. Naruto being the lazy one that he was at the moment began quietly whining to himself about being tired and hungry, it was getting to the point that it really began to bug the already fumed Uchiha.

"Ugh.. I didn't get to eat properly, sleep or use the Jacuzzi with the high powered bubbles...I could've but no, that damn teme had to ruin it _all_ by becoming the unofficial leader of the group and commanding everyone to leave. Ugh..."

"Can you shut the hell up you Naruto! That damn ass wipe of a prince crossed over a line that he shouldn't have."

This made his friend shut up immediately and listen with interest.

"What are you talking about? What did he do to you?" he said with his blue eyes full of curiosity.

Sasuke was silent as he slightly turned his head towards Sakura, but kept his eyes lowered towards the ground. He knew she didn't want him to say anything to Naruto about her situation because he knew she felt embarrassed about it even though she did nothing wrong. Naruto looked at the two back and forth and frowned. "What is up with you two? Just kiss and make up already, I didn't want to have to say this but it's been a bit awkward between you two ever since we started this mission. I think it's time for you two to bond." The two only looked at each other for a few brief seconds before separating their gazes in opposite directions. "See what I mean? Look, I'll even give you two some space. Since I'm tired and hungry all thanks to teme Sauske, I'll go home and eat some ramen and sleep while you two finish up and deliver the report letter to the Hokage's box."

Sakura opened her mouth to protest but didn't even get the chance to because their sneaky friend was long gone within seconds.

"I'll beat him the next time I see him." she mumbled under her breath.

"We should get going and deliver our letter to Lady Tsunade's office, so we can rest the night off. It's been a long day." he stated in a bored tone before walking off towards the Hokage's tower.

She watched his back as he walked away and began following after him a few short seconds later. She suddenly felt uncomfortable about the whole situation she was in. First she was naive enough to fall for the Prince's sneaky offer of staying at his palace, which back fired severely as she was half naked in front of both Junichi and Sasuke. Secondly, Sasuke was the one to save her after he clearly warned her about how they should go home instead of staying. What a mistake she made.. and thirdly when they were traveling he hadn't said a word about the incident he had saved her from and still hadn't at this point. It was driving her mad, she wanted to apologize endlessly for her stupid mistake of taking up the too good to be true offer.

Once they arrived in front of the Hokage's closed door, he drew out a pen and paper from his pack and began writing on a near by table. Her mouth was silent but her eyes were screaming. She watched him with furrowed brows as her thoughts took her over.

 _'Such a fool I was to think the Prince wasn't a bad guy...all this time I wanted to impress Sasuke and to show him I had changed from the naive girl I was and I ruined my chance of doing so...damn it.'_

Once she broke from her thoughts, she noticed those cold yet friendly onyx eyes staring into hers with an intense gaze. Her eyes widened as she took a step back in automatic reaction. "Ah, I'm sorry Sasuke.. I was just lost in thought." He just stood there with the paper still in hand as his eyes were still locked on hers.

"Sakura..."

"I'm sorry Sasuke...I feel like an idi..."

"Don't put yourself down." he said with a hint of anger in his voice.

She was taken a back by this and was silenced almost immediately. She understood why but was wrong about the reason why he was mad.

"Don't ever put yourself down just because you made a mistake Sakura, you are Haruno, Sakura the disciple of the Hokage and you have no right to talk down upon yourself like that! I know who you are and how you strived and succeeded to become the best medic jounin in this damn village. I can tell that you think that I don't notice those kinds of things about you or if I even notice you at all, but I do. Sure, what happened back there was a mistake, but we got out of that situation smoothly."

She was shocked at his suddenly truthful words, all she could do at this point was stare at him in awe.

"I didn't blame you for wanting to stay, it was a nice place too look around in and relax in."

"Sasuke..."

He paused for a minute before continuing. He was already worn out from their travels but was at his limit from spilling out his feelings, which was something he didn't normally do, especially in front of others.

"Let's finish this up...it's getting late." he said as he held the paper up. He folded the paper neatly in two and and slipped it into the outside mail box that hung on the wall.

"Good night Sakura."

He turned his back towards her and began walking out of the hallway, but was stopped by a small gentle hand that grabbed on the back of his shirt.

"Please wait...I have something to say. Please spare a few seconds."

He stopped in his tracks and and turned his head just enough to look at her from over his shoulder and the corner of his eye.

"I'm sorry...not just for tonight but for everything I've done to avoid you at all cost...I was just afraid to face you after so long. I didn't know how to act around you...to be strong and confident like how I was brought up to be or to not even try bothering you."

Her grip on his shirt got tighter as she went on.

"All I wanted to say was uhm...just..I..." She couldn't even find the words to say as she continued to stare at his back. "Thank you."

Her arm swung back down to her side as her grip had loosened from his shirt, but in a blink of an eye she was caught in an embrace. His arms held her close to his chest as if he'd never let go, she only stood still with her arms still by her sides due to this new feeling of shock.

"I've been wanting to say this for some time now, since the night we stopped for a rest stop but...you can lean on me without feeling ashamed or lowly. I wish to be there for you whenever you need. We've been through a lot, but I wish to start over...if that's possible."

She could feel his breath sway over her ear as he spoke over her shoulder, his hand was resting upon the back of her neck in a protective manner. She felt his heart beat against his chest and the quiet rhythm of his breathing cycle, this was all living proof that this was real and not one of her dreams.

Her arms rose from her sides and were gently wrapped around his waist in a welcoming warm embrace. He took this as her acceptance and leaned back a bit to look at her before doing what he was about to do next.

It was as if the room had stopped spinning, it became still and quiet. All the thoughts in their heads ceased as he slowly leaned in towards her. It seemed as if seconds turned to hours as he lessening the inches between them and eventually pressing his soft lips against hers.

Now when she thought the room was still it began spinning round and round until she closed her eyes. As soon as her lids closed, it felt so real and pure that it was like she was in a fairy tale. For a passionate thirty seconds of intimate lip locking, he released her and brought her back into his embrace.

It seemed this mission really had changed everything for the better. Lust was shown and ceased by unwanted company, the truth set the ones affected free and most importantly the start of something called _love_ had blossomed.

 _~ End ~_

* * *

 **Hey all!**

 **Well, I decided to end the story here. lol**

 **Idk if you liked it very much but I enjoyed writing it.**

 _ **It's the reason why I write stories in the first place, it became my hobby after learning how to write and improve my writing skills.**_

 **I just want to thank all the followers of this story for keeping up with it and reading it. :) It was my pleasure to write and post it.**

 **Now I'm not sure how many of you actually ready the author notes but I have a poll on my profile about the Naruto series. If you're bored and have an extra thirty seconds.**

 **I have a lot more story ideas that I've already begun on, so expect more to be put out soon. :D**

 **Thanks for your time and I'll talk with you soon!**


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